As environmental awareness improves and conscientious practices are more in demand, large-scale material composting is likely to become more prevalent. Material to be composted in small batches can be turned or churned so as to permit aeration and to help accelerate aerobic processes that serve to decompose the material under treatment. But as the demands for increased bulk and improved efficiencies arise, methods of rotating small batches of material for aeration and maintenance may be found to be cost prohibitive and logistically difficult.
The scale of potential composting needs is likely to support large permanent structure composting facilities that can each process tens if not hundreds of thousands of tons of material yearly. At such scales, aeration to support aerobic composting and the heat production of decomposition will need to be managed.
Liquids can also be released from composting material, posing another challenge to large-scale operations. In some cases, trenches are dug below grade and both aeration and liquid collection are facilitated by the trenches. A trench however is susceptible to liquid accumulation and so further below-grade liquid management is needed such as a sunken collection tank, which requires occasional purging and maintenance.
Improved composting facilities and methods are need for large-scale material composting.